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I would like to raise the topic of obelisks once again. Perhaps my reasoning will seem superficial, somewhat naive, and incomplete to serious players, but it is primarily the perspective of a viewer, rather than a player.
How do obelisks harm the game?
1) Randomness of the map layout. The player who encounters more obelisks on their starting location and as they progress across the map will be at a significant disadvantage. This is because obelisks take up space that could be occupied by other useful objects, which have considerable value, and at the same time, they are completely (more on this later) useless. Moreover, this randomness is not only bad from a competitive point of view but is also not appealing to the viewer. Seeing 5-6 obelisks around is quite depressing for both the player and the viewer – nothing interesting will happen next.
2) Digging up the Grail. From the outside, it looks like cheating because it is usually placed in a castle and reveals the entire map. The point of the game is lost, and watching this is only amusing for 1-2 times, after which it becomes completely uninteresting. I won't even mention the players who have to play with this. From a competitive point of view, this is a complete failure – the game is decided by sheer randomness, and the result does not determine the strongest player.
In the map generation settings, you can remove obelisks, but according to the rules, this setting is not the default for most (if not all) tournaments. That is, technically, removing obelisks is very simple – it is done by checking one box, just like removing hill forts and cartographers; the question is only about the rules.
What side effects could disabling obelisks cause?
I see only one serious factor – a change in the usual composition of zones. Other objects that will be much more useful will take the place of obelisks, which means that all zones will become richer. However, they will become equally richer for both players, so the question is more about getting used to the current zone contents.
Moreover, as far as I understand, the contents of zones can be technically edited. That is, the current templates can be adapted to a version without obelisks so that the "richness" of the zones remains approximately at the same level as it is now.
Thus, the main inhibiting factor remains the inertia of the current rules. Perhaps it is time to shake it off and make the game fairer and more spectacular?
